Bass Quiver

Hi,
was thinking about making my own bass quiver, and wonder if anyone here has done this before? The reason for not simply buying one is that being a college student I have a bit more time than I have money.......

What are the specs I would have to follow? What sort of tools might I need?
Thanks in advance....

I seem to recall someone posting a link to quiver plans on the 2xbasslist within the last 18 months. Go to (all hail) Bob Gollihur's website www.gollihur.com to figure out how to search the 2xbasslist archives.

It would be a fairly simple leatherwork project. If you can find a source for a piece of stiff leather you're most of the way there. You could use contact cement or rivets or leather stitching. You might try a leather crafting store like Tandy leather (don't know if they are on the web). I briefly considered making my own but finally decided to put a Kolstein quiver on my Xmas list. If you have to buy tools as well as the leather you're probably better off just getting one from Kolstein, Hammond Ashley etc... unless you want to go into business making Klimbim brand bow quivers. Not a likely way to pay off your student loans, however. Good Luck.

Heh...it's a thought...Klimbim Quivers.....
unfortunately I wasn't exactly considering buying online as I live in the boondocks...well, not exactly, but I live in Singapore....and it's hard to find lotsa stuff....plus shipping is rather expensive.

I made one about twenty years ago that has held up well. Not brain surgery.

Just a 18x7 inch hunk of stiff leather, folded over and stitched. Also put a shaped piece in the bottom, also stitched, to keep it open. Had my sister tool it, and dyed it, too. If you want to see a photo I can take and post one.

Just another question - during bowing, does the quiver ever get in the way? Makes some noise or impedes movement etc......? I play classical, and I get the general idea that not many classical people use this.

No, the quiver is a few inches below the bridge, so it does not interfere. It could also be shorter than we made it -- I had never seen another quiver when we made it, so we were going on pure ignorance. When I use it and expect to need a quick grab, I'll often just stick the first few inches of the bow into it and let it fall back towards me at an angle, so I can execute a "quick draw" manuever. Returning it to the quiver can be a similarly dramatic gesture. <g>

I don't recall if I or my sister stitched it, she probably did it. It's a small diameter leather. The photos make it look a little lighter than it is; it's a cordovan sort of brown, which I polished up (leather cleaner then shoe polish) about a year ago.

As far as classical players using them, I'd doubt it, but my "classical" experience was in college and with small community orchestras, not exactly a hotbed of professionalism.

The one thing of mention... when I first got my carved Juzek, after it was initially set up for me, it had a horrible wolf tone at the A, which frustrated me terribly. After I put the bow quiver on it, the wolf went away. It must have magical powers or at least good vibrations (not to mention wolf-dampening properties).

Quivers are rare among classical players mostly because there's not much need for them: After all, most classical music is largely arco, and if there is an extended pizz section (with time to put down the bow at the beginning and pick it up at the end), they can put the bow on their music stand.

That said, the principal bassist with the Elmhurst Symphony has one on his bass. My parents had never seen one before they saw his, and were all excited telling me about the bass player's "scabbard".

Maybe the funky designs on the quiver acted as a anti-wolf totem! It looks really nice.....very different from most of the commercial quivers I've seen online.

It did cross my mind to put the bow on the stand, but there are 2 problems to this. One is that I've got to share that stand with the other guy, and the other is that our stands are a bit flimsy (except during performances - we get the good stuff)....

I found a rather good deal on the Reunion Blues quiver on southwest strings (29 USD), seems to be cheaper than most places, but have to check out shipping costs to see whether I should make one or just buy one.

I will be going to Sydney pretty soon for some music festival, might look around the shops there.
Thanks again guys....

Yes, I recently had one one of the Reunion ones sent to me to check out recently, to use if I like it and can't get my sister to carve another for my second bass. It's well-made (mine is black) and would be ok. That is a good price.

I haven't used it and will likely eventually just sell it to one of my customers, assuming I can easily get another hunk of leather and talk Sister Sue into carving it - she's a bit tired of my requests (and it's her Summer gardening season) as I've had her carve three electric bass straps in the last year or so. <g> She does nice work. While it probably doesn't make a difference, it is nice to have some personal touches.

OTOH, if I didn't have the opportunity to have it carved and needed a quiver, I probably wouldn't bother and would just use the Reunion on my other bass.

I think a quiver, or perhaps a small stand (like a mini-umbrella stand) would be something good for classical where pizz or counting a zillion rests would call for a place to put your bow -- but I'm sure the "serious" classical players have something to share in that regard. Ever since I saw a bow resting on a music stand hit the floor and break when somebody turned a page, I never put mine up there again.

Sister Sue is pretty good at all her hobbies - this is just one of them. In fact, she did a lot of leather work about 20-25 years ago and then dropped it. Only recently, when I asked her to carve a bass leather bass strap that I bought did the tools come out again.

The top two straps were done in the last couple years, the bottom one was done at least 24 years ago. The top one (a bit hard to see) has sun faces all over it - we have a sun room where we have a couple dozen sun faces from all over the world on one wall, and I thought it would be a nice motif. Not URB, but I thought you might like to see other examples of her work.

I don't know if she'd be interested in taking commissions to make any quivers, but considering the amount of time and work involved they wouldn't be cheap, but could possibly be a Fall/Winter project. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll ask her.